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Slate Culture

Death, Sex & Money | The Honeymoon That Ended in Immigration Detention

Slate Culture

Slate Podcasts

Arts, Tv & Film, Music

4.42K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Silvia Camila Muñoz and Bradley Bartell had been married for less than a year when ICE stopped them at the airport on the way back from their honeymoon in Puerto Rico. Silvia Camila came to the United States in 2019 to work at a Wisconsin waterpark for one season. The pandemic caused her to overstay her visa and continue to work without authorization. That’s when she met Bradley, a local factory worker, and a Trump supporter.  In this episode, Anna talks to Bradley and Silvia Camilla about her 49-day stay in immigration detention, how it changed their relationship and friendships within their community.  Podcast production by Zoe Azulay Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus. And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Wisconsin Dells is kind of like Las Vegas, if it were wet.

0:05.0

It is touted as the water park capital of the world.

0:09.0

It's a town of less than 10,000 people that host millions of tourists a year.

0:15.0

Part of the workforce that runs it are immigrants.

0:18.0

Like Sylvia Camilla Munoz, who came from Peru at 21 years old on a J-1 visa.

0:24.9

That allowed her to come and work at a water park in the U.S. for four months, basically a season.

0:31.0

That was the idea anyway.

0:33.1

Then the pandemic hit, and borders closed.

0:36.3

And Sylvia Camila just stayed on in the U.S.

0:40.2

She met her husband Bradley, a guy who grew up in the area and works at a nearby factory,

0:46.0

at a local bar in 2021. They got married last summer. And several months later, in the middle of

0:52.3

winter, they went on a trip to Puerto Rico with friends as a kind of honeymoon.

0:57.1

On the way home, in airline security, Sylvia Camila was pulled out of line by ICE agents.

1:03.7

Her green card application was filed, but not finalized.

1:08.2

She spent 49 days in immigration detention.

1:14.2

I first interviewed Sylvia Camilla and her husband Bradley when she was just home out on Bond, and we've stayed in touch through the

1:20.0

spring and early summer as the Trump administration has increased the pace and visibility of

1:26.1

immigration raids.

1:34.0

And as Sylvia Camilla and Bradley have tried to figure out what's next in immigration court for her.

1:47.3

And for many of the women, she met in her Louisiana detention facility, a Harvard scientist from Russia, a house cleaner from Lithuania, a bride-to-be from Montenegro, a single mom from Venezuela,

1:49.3

all new friends.

1:52.7

We start to be more like family.

...

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